An action game with sweeping: talking Dustforce with Hitbox

Ars talks to one of the developers behind Dustforce, an upcoming indie game …

Independent games often tackle subject matter that is very different from more mainstream titles. Flower is about the dreams flowers might have. Machinarium is about separated robot lovers. And the upcoming Dustforce is about... sweeping. It's a unique concept, and if the demo is any indication, the team at Hitbox might just have managed to find a way to make housework fun.

Ars spoke with Woodley Nye, one half of the development team, about the demo and what we can expect in the full version.

Dustforce is a side-scrolling 2D platformer. It's fast paced, with tricky platforms, lots of wall jumps, and plenty of combos. But instead of collecting coins or shiny rings, you're on the search for dirt. Lots and lots of dirt. The main character in the game, the aptly named Dustman, appears to be a clean freak, and it's your job to eliminate as much dirt as you can. According to Nye, the concept of the game grew out of a desire to do something different.

"I was thinking about nonviolent games and that led to chores: how satisfying it is to sweep away debris and such," he told Ars. "Then it was just a matter of how we could make that into a game. I started doing some sketches and drew Dustman, and the game idea sort of coalesced. I had the idea a long time ago, and we've only just now gotten the chance to make it."

Despite being in Nye's head for quite some time, development only began about three and half months ago. The Aussie duo (the other half of Hitbox is Lexie Dostal) began working on a different prototype in March, before switching gears and starting on Dustforce.

In spite of its rather early state, one of the most impressive things about the game is just how great it looks. The 2D sprites look great and the animation is incredibly smooth, even with the high-energy gameplay. The expressive hand-drawn style also gives Dustforce a great deal of personality.

"I find that it's hard to make symbol or skeletal animation in 2D not look cheap, and I like hard edged shading," Nye explained. "Probably one of the things that makes keyframed 2D animation so appealing is that it allows for more liberal interpretation of perspective and motion. Once I started on Dustman's sprites, we were pretty convinced that was the style we wanted the whole game in. Also, since the characters don't really talk or anything, we needed to add some character to them through their movement. So keyframed animation was the way to go."

Nye does insist that the demo is just a prototype, so there could be quite a few changes when the final game is eventually released. "Some things we'd love to add are level sharing, recording and watching replays, and of course more variety in hazards and other level features," he told Ars.

As for when—and where—we can expect to play the full version of Dustforce, again, Nye was unable to give any hard details. "Can't say anything yet!" he said. But you can keep tabs on the game's progress by following its development on Twitter.

I like this idea a lot. The item of interest (dust) is "stuck" to the walls, floors and ceilings, so you have to find ways to touch the different structures in the level. This could be very interesting, and I can imagine a huge level where you wonder "how the heck am I gonna reach that part of the wall?", and then figure out the puzzle.

I was in a GameStop store last week (to find old, cheap GameCube games), and this game sounds an awful lot like a fake game they were using to promote an indie game development contest (with the tagline similar to "You think this game sounds boring? Make one of your own!")